One of the original co-founders of Rockstar Games and the studio’s former lead writer, Dan Houser, has spoken about projects being compared to the Grand Theft Auto franchise. In an interview with Variety, he was asked about the comparison, especially since his new company – Absurd Ventures – is also working on an open-world game. Generally speaking, he also thinks that comparing modern projects to games he has worked on in the past is a great compliment.
However, despite this, Houser also wants the newer projects at Absurd Ventures to succeed on their own merits.
“In terms of will I always be compared to it? I don’t know. I mean, hopefully, on some level there could be no greater compliment. On another level, I hope some of the stuff we make is going to be successful in its own right. It’s no problem to have made good things, but of course, if you make good things, if the new stuff’s not as impactful, that’s going to be disappointing in some ways. But it’s still a privilege to make anything; otherwise you’re just always drowning in your own previous creative work.”
After discussing the fact that he wants to continue “to make things I’m proud of” rather than “be successful in media”, Houser also opened up about the stresses of his time at Rockstar Games, especially when working on the Grand Theft Auto franchise.
“Certainly, there was a lot of pressure making any ‘GTA’ game when I was on them. And the way I would control that pressure for me was to say, am I making something with as much integrity as I can muster, and am I making something I’m proud of? And does it feel fresh, new? And if that’s the case, let the results fall where they may.
“And certainly, even with games at Rockstar that were not successful, I was proud of them if we’d done what I thought was a good job. And so that’s going to be the same here. We can’t sit there going, if it’s not the biggest thing ever, I’m a failure. Because then you’ve got to process either, I’m a failure, I’m a success — but it feels just the same. So, the work is the creative work, not what the market thinks of it.”
Houser had left Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive back in February 2020. He announced his new company, Absurd Ventures, in June 2023. At the time, Houser said that the company’s goal was “to create new universes and to tell great stories, wherever and however we can.”
The company currently has quite a few projects in the works across a variety of mediums, from podcasts to comic books and even an animated series. Ascendant Studios – the team behind Immortals of Aveum – had announced in 2024 that it had “joined forces” with Absurd Ventures to develop a game.
“[CEO] Bret [Robbins] has put together a highly talented, passionate team,” said Houser at the time. “We are very excited to have them join forces with us as we begin to work together on one of our original new titles.”
